Ryan Hagenow Checks In From Hoover to Preview UK Baseball at the SEC Tournament!

Pitcher Ryan Hagenow joins Andrew from Hoover, Alabama as Kentucky gets set to embark on postseason play Wednesday morning.

Episode Transcript

(00:14):
What's up, Big Blue Nation?Welcome inside another episode of the UK Sports
Network Today podcast presented by the BigBlue Brew Newsletter. Andrew Capp is here
with you, and it is Hoovertime SEC Baseball Championships in Hoover, Alabama,
and it starts all at nine tothirty in the morning these next couple
of days, and some action alreadyin the books. Kentucky knows their opponent

(00:38):
LSU dispatching six seeded Georgia fairly easilyand somewhat of a surprise to get things
going in Hoover. So it willbe LSU and Kentucky on Wednesday morning,
and we have Ryan Haganow relief pitcherfor the Cats, to stop by and
report from Hoover to tell us what'sbeen going on with the team since arriving
over the last couple of days,talk about his season, talk about the

(01:00):
culture of the team, and justeverything in general of UK baseball as they
get ready to embark on their postseasonjourney after a record setting regular season that
included a school record twenty two SECwins and a share of the regular season
title in the Southeastern Conference. Justa simply remarkable season so far for head

(01:22):
coach Nick Minjeon, and they werelooking to build on last year's success,
a season in which they went tothe Super Regionals against LSU. To build
on that and to make a runat Omaha as the Cats seek their first
College World Series appearance in school history. Before we get to Ryan want to
remind you that the UK Sports NetworkToday podcast is presented by the Big Blue
Brew. It's the official newsletter ofUK Athletics. You could sign up today

(01:47):
at Ukathletics dot com slash Big BlueBrew. It's completely free and it hits
in boxes every weekday morning. Onceagain, that's Ukathletics dot com slash Big
Blue Brew. Now without Ado,let's get out to Hoover with Ryan Haganow
live from Hoover, a bit ofa correspondent if you will. It's Ryan

(02:07):
Haganow. Ryan, thank you somuch for joining us. It's a long
day of baseball that fortunately is aco regular season champs Kentucky doesn't have to
participate in. But how how thingsbeen going so far in Hoover? Really
well, really well. We gotup early this morning and practiced that you
know what our game time is tomorrow, just to get used to being up

(02:28):
and moving around that early, andyou know, the heat and sun is
out here, so we're making surewe're staying hydrated and ready to go.
You and I were joking before wewent on air about it seems like there's
rain every year in Hoover and sofar, we'll knock on I don't know
if this is real wood that I'mknocking on, but we'll knock on wood.
That should be a good forecast therest of the week. Kentucky,

(02:50):
if you're listening to this on Wednesdaymorning, knows their opponent it is LSU
beating Georgia in the opening round.That was also an early game. Did
you guys get a chance to watchany of that, Yeah, we definitely.
We turned the game on after practice. Some of the guys had it
pulled up on their phone, butjust to watch. It's just good baseball
to watch. We don't really carewho we're playing, to be honest,

(03:14):
but it's fun to watch all theseteams. And you know, the top
eight seeds are all in the samehotel, so everybody's around each other and
it's just a really cool environment.I mean, it's a historic season.
Twenty two wins in the SEC.That's a school record, just the second
ever championship in the regular season justbecause of the way things worked as far
as sharing the championship. Kentucky athree seed because of the West champion being

(03:38):
the two seed. But that hasto be as a guy that's been with
Kentucky your entire collegiate career, sucha cool feather in your cap, knowing
that how historic this team is alreadywith a chance to do even more,
absolutely, and I don't I tryto appreciate every moment I have, but
I don't think it'll really settle inuntil the season's over because our goals are

(03:58):
much higher. So it's been reallycool to do what we've done, and
you know, I'm honored to bea part of it. But in our
eyes, we still got the biggestThe goal we've talked about from the fall
still hasn't happened yet. So thisis a team that's never been to Omaha.
But last year you guys went toa super regional ran into a little
bit of a buzz saw named PaulSkins. I think everybody across the world

(04:20):
now is pretty familiar with what thatguy can do because it was less than
a year later he took a perfectgame into the sixth inning at Wrigley in
just his second big league starts.So no Paul skiings out there luckily this
year. But how does and Iknow there's a lot of new faces that
are contributing, but how does lastyear's run to the supers help you guys
out going forward this year? Yeah? I think just having you know,

(04:44):
that core group of guys that wasthere last year and that played like especially
on the position side. You know, having wald Schmidt and Nolan and those
guys that have been and played ina Super helps a lot. And also
a super in the box where we'replaying in front of fourteen thousand people,
so you know, the stage doesn'treally get bigger in college than that,
other than Omaha. So you know, we've I feel like we have the

(05:09):
best experience under our belts because thisyear it should hopefully be at home,
and you know, we have alot of older guys who trust themselves and
know themselves as who they are onthe field, and I think that's good
for us. Obviously with that regularseason championship. Kentucky a good year last
year, but in much better footinglooking at the postseason than they were last

(05:30):
year. As far as you know, Regionals pretty much and afterthought as far
as hosting it and then Super ifyou get out of it, also a
very good chance at that. Butlooking at your season under a two e
r A two and oh one pointeight eight, I know you missed the
month of March, but how havethings gone for you this year? Personally?
Yeah, I think I think oneof the main things that's you know,
grown for me is just a mentalside. And you know, I

(05:55):
like being an older guy and beingthe guy that people you know, come
to to ask questions, and ithelps give me confidence. I've kind of
I've done every role since I've beenhere. I've started, I've been a
closer, I've been middle relief.So it's really just a matter of trusting
myself and letting the guys behind memake plays. Because most of the time,
if it's hit, if it's notgoing out of the yard, it's

(06:15):
probably going to be an out.That's how good our defense is. So
it just it gives They give mea lot of confidence, kind of the
newest role in bullpens, and itkind of trickled down, if you will,
from from Major League Baseball. Therewas a brief period where it was
trendy to use your closer in ahigh leverage role. But now the trendy
thing is this this fireman type thingwhere you can be used in the third,

(06:35):
fifth, seventh, or the ninth. You've kind of slid into that
role here in the last few weeksfor the Cats. How you liked that?
I enjoy it. I think youknow it's it's a role that the
coaches put an older guy in generallybecause it's not very routine oriented. It's
just kind of when you're needed,you go in and you just try to

(06:56):
get the job done. So I'venever cared what myro was here. I
just want to help the team asmuch as I can. And you know,
we we have big goals, likeI said earlier, so however I
can help our team reach those goalsis what I want to do. Fortunately,
I get a chance to be aroundyou guys just a little bit.
Did the Arkansas game a few weeksago the finale, had a chance to
travel with you guys for the firstcouple of weeks of last season, and

(07:20):
just the thing that really stands outto me is just how well you guys
get along. And we've talked withhead coach Nick Minjeon on this show about
that, But I want to getit from a player's perspective. You know,
this whole this whole weird culture andall that. What has this been
like with knowing how close you guysare doing this together? Yeah, I
think I got to give a lotof props to the coaches just for recruiting

(07:43):
the right people. They don't justlook at who people are as a baseball
player. They try to get guyswho will mesh together and be able to,
you know, execute the plan theyhave in place. And that's not
an easy thing to do. Butthey got the right group of guys and
everybody gets along with each other.We're big on, you know, just
not having clicks. Everybody's involved.Everybody is friends with one another, and

(08:05):
that makes it so much easier toroot for each other because whenever anybody on
the field has success, it makeseverybody happy. And that's very unique from
what I know from you know,having friends on other teams and stuff.
This this place is pretty special inthe culture that has been built here has
been pretty special. What I reallyenjoy about the culture not just the fact

(08:26):
that you guys like each other somuch, but that there is a little
bit of you know, let's relaxtype thing where it's you guys take everything
very seriously, and that's evident withhow well you've played this year. But
there's also a reminder that baseball's funand really the best baseball has played when
you're having fun. I cannot waituntil tomorrow if you're listening to this today

(08:46):
to see that first Nick Minjeon indugout interview. My personal favorite has been
the Doug Dimodome where the hats gotstacked up? Do you have a personal
favorite Nick Minjeon in game interview momentthat year? Mine was definitely at Auburn.
We had a couple of guys into both side him. One guy

(09:07):
was just getting fed gumball after gumball, ended up with like ten gunballs in
his mouth, and you know,just fooling around, like you said,
being loose. It helps a lot. We're playing a game that kids that
are three years old play, so, you know, just being reminded of
that and not taking anything too seriousbecause it's not, you know, it's
a game. But you know,we obviously all care very much about winning,

(09:28):
and we know that when we're looseand relaxed and having fun with the
game that we love. That that'swhen we win the most games. So
I've been trying to talk Darren intousing that headset that you guys made when
someone was mimicking coach Minjion e zactverbat emotions during the interview. I can't
remember what game that was, butDarren hasn't hasn't lived up to that.
He wants to use the regular headset, probably for technical purposes. But you

(09:52):
mentioned head coach Nick Minjeon and whathe's done to kind of build this culture
and put the program where it isnow. He was just named the SEC
Coach of the Year second time inhis Kentucky career. That he's done that.
Everywhere you go, everybody has suchgreat things to say about coach min
Gion. What is your relationship likewith coach? He's just he's very personable

(10:13):
and he really cares about you asa human off the field, and I
think that makes it a lot easierto play play behind. You know,
it's it's not it's not pro ballyet, and that's what a lot of
people, you know, tend toforget is you know, it's it's not
your job. Where college students andthe realistic thing is that a lot of

(10:35):
us are going to go on andwork separate jobs from baseball, So you
know, having somebody that sets youup as as a human off the field
is super important, and I thinkhe does that phenomenally well. Looking at
the nuts and bolts of things aswe kind of look back at the close
of the regular season, the SECschedule, I mean, my goodness,

(10:56):
just there's no breaks in it,right, There's just no easy weekend like
we can kind of coast through thisthree wins and then get ready for whoever.
It's just relentless. So you guysend at Florida and then at home
against Vanderbilt. How important was itfor you guys to continue that strong start
that you had through SEC and nonconference as well obviously, and finish strong

(11:16):
to keep that momentum going into thepostseason beginning in Hoover. Yeah, I
think it's super important, and it'sjust super important to us that we stick
with our identity to what has madeus so successful up to that point.
And I'm sure you've firady said before, but we after we win or lose
a game, coach manche tells usit expires at midnight and taking that one

(11:37):
one day at a time approach,whether we have practice that day or left
that day, it makes the wholegrand scheme of things seem a lot smaller.
So you know, from the outsidepoint of view, it may look
like, oh, they're probably thinkingthey have to win five out of the
last six, but where you're showingup to the field and we're like,
what do we have to do today? And that seriously just helps everybody calm

(11:58):
down a lot more. M Isthere a sense? And you know,
on the ride down to Hoover wementioned regionals most likely in Lexington. If
you make it out of regional's reallygood chance that the super Regional is going
to be in Lexington. So it'skind of strange to think about. But
there's not many of these trips leftfor you guys as a unit. Was
that something that was collectively kind ofthought of or spoken about so far in

(12:20):
Hoover? I think so definitely withthe older guys, you know, because
a lot of the things we're goingto remember are off the field, like
all the all the things we getinto as a team in the hotels or
on the bus rides, and thefunny conversations and things are bus driver Jackie
says, So that's definitely something I'vethought about and I've talked about with guys,

(12:41):
But it's you know, that's that'swhat makes us enjoy it even more.
I need more of Jackie running intoa huddle on video. I need
more of that, and I needit now. Last question for you,
Ryan, and we appreciate your timeand such a busy week in Hoover.
You men earlier, you're kind ofin a luxury spot of being the fireman,

(13:03):
so you really don't have a routine, so you don't necessarily have to
worry about it. But with thissuch a kind of a constructed tournament,
a nine to thirty am local timestart for game one and then it's just
bang bang bang after that, howhard is it to kind of plan that
out from a pitching staff perspective.Yeah, I think it's you know,
you're going to need guys to stepup, and that's something I feel like

(13:26):
happens that every year with the teamsand Hoover that go on a run,
is somebody that you know, theoutside eyes may not have expected, steps
up and has been preparing for theirmoment they get it here. And I
think that's what's so cool because itshows it shows the depth of all the
teams, not just the one ortwo you know power arms they have.

(13:46):
It's going to take everybody to getthe job done. And from a pitching
perspective, you know covered that.But from a hitting perspective, I think,
what from the outsider's perspective, what'sbeen amazing about this team and the
run that you've been on. There'sno lead that's safe for an opponent.
So if you guys do fall behind, you really feel like you're in the
game until the ninth This offense,whether it be Ryan wals Schmid, Devin

(14:07):
Burks now that he's fully helping NickLopez, all sec first team, it's
just there. There just isn't anybreaks in this Kentucky lineup. And for
you as a pitcher, that's gotto be a really neat luxury knowing that
it might not matter what the scoreis when you come in the game,
that you still have a chance.Yeah. I mean the pitchers have that
most belief in those guys and theybelieve in us, and that's part of
what makes us so good is wenever play the blame game. Everybody trusts

(14:31):
each other and if we have abad game, we expect to pick each
other up. So if the offenseis struggle in scoring, they expect us
to hold the score. And youknow, if we're giving up a lot
of runs, we expect them toscore. So that's just something that's cool.
We have that confidence in each otherand that trust built up. Ryan,
Thank you so much for your timefrom Hoover being our correspondent here today.

(14:52):
We look forward to your guys's runand I can't wait to catch up
with you in Lexington during regionals.Thank you, I appreciate it. As
we mentioned with Ryan, head coachNick Minjion named the SEC Coach of the
Year for the second time in hisKentucky tenure. He was the SEC and
National Coach of the Year in twothousand and seventeen as well. Of course,
this is on the heels of Kentuckywinning a school record twenty two Southeastern

(15:16):
Conference games en route to a regularseason championship in a ranking that has been
in the top five pretty steadily throughoutthe second half of the season and ended
as the number two ranked team acrossevery major poll. Also tops inn RPI
as well. Just a simply fantasticseason with head coach Nick Minjeon at the
helm a little bit surprising, butKentucky only one player on the first team

(15:39):
All se seed list, and thatwas Nick Lopez, who had a tremendous
campaign. Lopez, a grad transferfrom usc batted three point eighty and ops
of over one thousand going into postseasonplay one thy fifty three in forty eight
games with the Cats, but hehad seventy hits, two of those triples,
six home runs, and he hadforty seven runs knocked in, and

(16:00):
he also had twenty doubles in theregular season campaign. Some other postseason honorees
Ryan Waldschmitt earning second team All SECand what is a very crowded outfield in
the SEC, although I don't knowif there's anybody in the SEC or country
that finished the regular season in hotterfashion than Waldschmidt. But nonetheless, he

(16:21):
had a batting average over four hundredin SEC play and overall in the area,
hit three seventy his ops, flirtedwith twelve hundred, sixteen doubles,
eleven homers, thirty nine knocked inand oh, by the way, he
drew thirty one walks, was hitby a pitch sixteen times. Any swipe
twenty three bags. That's simply remarkablefor a guy that's sitting at the top

(16:42):
of your batting lineup, and welook forward to his hot start continuing throughout
the postseason play beginning in Hoover.In addition to coach Minngione, Waldschmidt and
Lopez Mitchell, Daily, Mason Mooreand Emelian Peatrie were named the All SEC
Defensevsive Team. These awards voted onby the league's coaches. Our interview with

(17:04):
Ryan was conducted on Tuesday afternoon.The rest of the episode recorded Tuesday as
well, So if you're listening onTuesday night, or if you're listening on
Wednesday early in the morning, youstill have some time to check out Kentucky's
lidlifter in the SEC Baseball Tournament therein Hoover. It'll be a ten thirty
am first pitch between Kentucky and theeleven seed LSU. LSU upsetting the six

(17:26):
seeded Georgia Bulldogs, sending them homethe opening round of the SEC Baseball Tournament
single elimination, now everything else doubleelimination, So Kentucky taking on LSU again.
That's a ten thirty am Eastern timestart. Nine to thirty local in
Hoover, and Darren'll be on theair across the UK Sports Network with pregame
coverage beginning at ten fifteen Eastern time. If Kentucky were to win, they

(17:51):
would move on into the winner's bracket, which would mean no worries about playing
in the morning games beginning on Thursday. They would be playing in the afternoon
on Thursday, as the loser's bracketwill take over the morning portion of things,
if you will, the way thatthe bracket is slotted. On Wednesday,
the three seed Kentucky Wildcats get thingsstarted, so we'll get going as

(18:15):
we mentioned, at ten thirty inthe morning, and then the two seed
Arkansas they'll take the field after thatgame concludes between Kentucky and LSU, and
then the afternoon session is spearheaded bynumber one Tennessee. By virtue of the
tiebreaker, they got the one seedout of the East Division and then four
seeded Texas A and M, whichbriefly led the sec there down the stretch.

(18:37):
They will be the final game ofthat opening couple of rounds before we
get into our respective winner and losersbracket, so double elimination from here on
out. After things are settled onTuesday, be sure to stay tuned to
UK Sports Network social pages for allthe latest, including some highlights from Hoover
as Darren is getting sent to whatwe hope be a long stay at the

(19:00):
SEC Baseball Championships. And once moreit begins on Wednesday morning, ten thirty
am, first pitch ten fifteen pregamecoverage across the UK Sports Network. Big
big thanks to Ryan Haganow for takingtime out of his day to chat with
us from his hotel room there inHoover. More than likely we'll be seeing
him in that opening game against theLSU Tigers. Big thanks to Matt May

(19:25):
for coordinating that on the road,and thanks as well to Darren Hedrick for
helping give us some background information aswell as always a big thank you to
Curtis and Michelle at the Network anda huge thanks to you for tuning into
the latest edition of the UK SportsNetwork Today podcast presented by the Big Blue
Brew Newsletters. So for everybody atthe UK Sports Network and UK Sports Network

(19:47):
Today, I'm Andrew Kappus saying thanksfor listening, and go Kats and Hoover
Batan, the Cantamo Satan a Pentost